The fears of Meer Jaffier were so great, that he proposed, as one expedient, to purchase the retreat of the Shah Zada; but Clive, the moment he heard of this intention, wrote to dissuade him from a measure which could have no effect but that of inviting others to like profitable inroads. "I have just heard," Clive writes to the Nabob, "a piece of intelligence[252], which I can scarce give credit to; it is, that your Excellency is going to offer a sum of money to the King's son. If you do this, you will have Sujah-u-Dowlah, the Mahrattas, and many more, come from all parts to the confines of your country, who will bully you out of money, till you have none left in your treasury. If your Excellency should pursue this method, it will be furnishing the King's son with the means to raise forces, which, indeed, may endanger the loss of your country. What will be said, if the great Jaffier Ali Khan, Subah of this province, who commands an army of sixty thousand men, should offer money to a boy who has scarce a soldier with him? I beg your Excellency will rely on the fidelity of the English, and of those troops which are attached to you."
To Ram Narrain Clive reiterated his assurances of aid and protection. "It was," he states, in a letter[253] to that ruler, "on account of your strictness for justice, your courage, and your fidelity, that I got the Nabob to confirm you in the Subahship of Patna. It surprises me much to hear that you suffer yourself to be under such apprehensions of the King's son, who has not more than two thousand men. I would have you march out of the city with your forces, and encamp at a distance. Mr. Amyatt will accompany you. I have this day pitched my tent, and (with the blessing of God), if it be necessary, I will come to your assistance."
Clive received a very flowery and complimentary letter[254] from the Shah Zada, and another from his minister Maddar-u-Dowlah. The purport of both was to invite him to pay his personal respects; and a letter from Fyaz Ali Khan, received at the same time, intimated that the Prince had thoughts of doing great things by Clive's counsel, and in conjunction with him."
Conceiving, no doubt, that a knowledge of this correspondence might alarm Meer Jaffier, Clive sent him copies of all the letters. He also informed him that some of the Shah Zada's agents had been with him. "They made me," he observes, "offers of provinces upon provinces, with whatever my heart could desire; but could he give, as well as offer me, the whole empire of Hindustan, it would have no weight with the English. I am well assured, too, that he wrote to every man of consequence in these parts; which convinces me that he has designs against these provinces. It is the custom of the English to treat the persons of ambassadors as sacred, and I told the Shah Zada's agents as much; but at the same time warned them never to come near me again, for, if they did, I would take their heads for their pains."
Clive, having received a request from the Nabob, marched on the 25th of February; and, after remaining a short time at Moorshedabad, he proceeded, accompanied by the Nabob's son, towards Patna.
Though the Emperor of Delhi possessed, personally, no authority; though his mandates were evaded or disregarded throughout the greater part of his dominions, on the just ground of their being issued by one notoriously not a free agent; still there existed the greatest reverence for his name. He was, as yet, deemed the sole fountain of honour; and every outward mark of respect, every profession of allegiance, continued to be paid to the person who filled the throne of the house of Timour. Until his sunnud (or commission) was received, no possession, whether obtained by inheritance or usurpation, was deemed valid, and no title of nobility was recognised as legitimate unless conferred by him. In countries like India, where the community is almost in a primitive state, usage has a power, of which it is difficult to convey an idea to those accustomed only to a more artificial and advanced state of society. At the period here treated of, when the Emperor was known to be quite powerless, and to act under personal restraint, such was the impression throughout India of the nominal allegiance to which he was entitled, that no usurper, however daring, could outrage the general feeling so far as to treat his name with disrespect, or neglect forms to which consequence continued to be attached long after all the substance of authority was fled from that family for whose support they were instituted.
Clive appears to have been deeply impressed with the necessity of attention to this popular feeling, and to have studiously established an influence at the Court of Delhi. When Meer Jaffier obtained the sunnud (or commission) and investiture as Nabob of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, Clive was honoured, at the same time, with a high title[256] of nobility, and the grade of Munsubdar, or Commander in the Imperial Army; distinctions to which he appears to have attached considerable importance, and which were, no doubt, of value, as they increased his consequence in the eyes of the natives.
I have elsewhere given my opinion very fully upon this subject, and have expressed my sentiments as to the motives by which Clive was governed in all his intercourse with the Court of Delhi. I have stated "that, though general reasoners may deem such conduct a sacrifice to prejudice, a reverence to a shadow; yet the fact cannot be denied, that, by making that sacrifice, and by reverencing that shadow, Clive went in unison with the feelings and opinions of millions of men. Such inconsistencies as those which exist in our connection with the fallen descendants of the house of Timour are frequent in political communities, and particularly as they have existed from time immemorial in India. They grow out of the habits, the sentiments, and sometimes the superstition, of human beings; and wise statesmen, referring to their source, will ever treat them with consideration and respect."[257]